"Yes on 2" Launches New Television Ad - "Imagine" & Releases First Spanish-Language Radio Ad

Today, the Yes on 2 campaign launched its fifth television advertisement, “Imagine”, as well as its first Spanish-language radio advertisement.

“Imagine” focuses on the impact that Question 2 will have on the state’s highest-need communities, where there is an overwhelming demand for public charter schools. More than 32,000 families are currently on waiting lists for public charter schools - almost all of whom are in the state’s lowest-performing school districts.

Yes on 2’s first Spanish-language radio advertisement focuses on the story of Nora, a charter school parent from Boston.

WATCH “Imagine”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKh9_smwJms&feature=youtu.be

LISTEN to “Nora” Radio Ad:

https://soundcloud.com/user-654273032/nora-arango-si-en-la-dos

“For families in great school districts, Question 2 won’t change a thing. But for families stuck in failing schools, Question 2 will allow them to choose the best public school for their children," said Eileen O’Connor, a spokesperson for Great Schools Massachusetts. “Every parent deserves to choose the best public school in their community.” BACKGROUND:

32,000 students stuck on waiting lists for public charter schools. Many Massachusetts students who wish to attend a charter school are unable to do so due to a lack of a sufficient number of available seats in existing charter schools. There are 32,646 Massachusetts students are on waitlists for admission to charter schools, according to figures released in June 2016 by the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

http://www.doe.mass.edu/charter/enrollment/fy2017Waitlist.html

Question 2 will help students in communities where there is extraordinary unmet demand for public charter school options. Question 2 would allow for up to 12 approvals each year of either new charter schools or expanded enrollments in existing charter schools (but not to exceed 1% of the statewide public school enrollment), with priority given to schools serving students in the lowest performing 25% of school districts statewide.

Source: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/elepdf/IFV_2016.pdf

As of 2016, fifteen Massachusetts communities are either at the cap or so close to the cap that it is not possible to open new charter schools These communities include: Boston, Lawrence, Lowell, Holyoke, Chelsea and Fall River, among others. The state’s second and third largest cities, Worcester and Springfield, are eligible for only one additional charter school each, a number insufficient to meet waiting lists in both places.

Source: MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Charter schools serve students who mostly reside in a handful of communities that are home to the weakest performing schools, whereas the majority of Massachusetts school districts send virtually no students to charter schools. Massachusetts has 351 cities and towns and 294 different school districts, yet most charter school students come from just a handful of communities, whereas most districts send less than one percent (or even none at all) of their students to charter schools.More than 60% of all charter school students come from just eight communities: Boston, Springfield, Lynn, Lawrence, Lowell, Chelsea, Fall River and New Bedford.